Living Through Our Means

On October 20, 2012 we celebrated twenty years of riding the zip-line, swimming, cabin devotionals, fire-ring and amphitheater singing, playing sports, having great Bible classes, team building, forever-friend making, goal setting, life changing, baptizing and so much more! The challenges have been great but the rewards are exponential. I am so blessed for having been here and for having experienced so many people dedicating their lives to God. If you have been involved in making the last twenty years possible I want you to know that you have blessed many lives and I pray a blessing on your life today. Let us be thankful in prayer to God for all that he has done and let us also be prayerful that he will grant us many more years to come in His service here at Camp Caudle.

"Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present." 

Roger Babson

I know we all want camp to be great. We want our camp to be the BEST. We have reasons we love camp and have been coming for years and some of us have dreams for the future. Whether they be nicer cabins, horse back riding, a full time kitchen staff, a Dr Pepper fountain in the middle of camp or simply tearing out the moisture damaged floor in the wooden bath house there is always something to be done, desired or necessary, to improve this place.  We realize that camp is about God working through people to change lives. We realize that at the end of a week here you don't remember the functionality of the serving line but the relationships built and your life-changing experience. Still we recognize what goes on behind the scenes and how God is working in this physical world allowing us the opportunity to reap such a spiritual blessing through these relationships and experiences.

When I was a boy I would I came to camp many times on Saturdays for work days. There were always several people here working very hard and I had a blast being here. While sitting around the picnic tables at lunch eating Vienna sausages and crackers and listening to the older men talk I realized that these guys didn't just show up here every once in a while but they were here all of the time. This place meant something to them. They talked about the projects they'd completed and those planned for the future. I remember in the early days only half of the buildings being functional and watching as men and women worked to get everything operational. For two summers in the 90's I lived here at the camp with my dad. The work that went into running this place was insurmountable. Plumbing, Electric, Food, Maintenance, People, People and more People. At a young age I saw that for this place to run it took a lot of work.

When we go to a place we see the presented product and often times don't realize the work and money it took to get it to that level. It wasn't until 5 years ago, when I came to work full time here at the camp, that I saw and began to understand how much money it took to run a facility like this. I had known the work. I knew what it meant to take care of the chores and I quickly learned a new set of skills to manage the camp. As in most grass roots organizations that I know of, it was obvious that money and volunteers are the limiting factor in preservation and growth.

 I am reminded of this parable:

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

Matthew 25

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

God has given you and I responsibility to use what we have!  We can affect the future. Sure, we cannot predict the future but we can, through God's grace, impact it greatly.

 In the parable above the thing that strikes me most is the risk the men took with the money the master left for them to manage. If I am honest, most of the time I fall in with the "wicked and lazy servant." My mentality is to hold on to what I have and be safe. Even if you have never personally invested your money you probably still understand the principle. You understand that it can often times be risky.

We have accomplished so much but as we look forward we realize the necessities and opportunities that await. We have accomplished so much but we must realize that it was people who believed in doing God's work through camp that got involved, worked hard and gave of their money.  If we want our camp to be amazing then we must get underneath it and support it.

Thank you to all of those who have given of your time and money to our mission of mentoring and teaching kids, teenagers and young adults! If you have yet to get involved with what is going on out here then I hope that today you will decide to join our efforts. Your donations make a big difference!

Lee Henson

Press On - by Brent Ruple

This week is one of our 'Servant Weeks' here at Camp Caudle. "Wolf Life", the campus ministry of the Church of Christ at ASU Jonesboro, has chosen to spend the first half of their spring break working here, getting Camp ready for the summer! These young men and women who lovingly refer to this week as 'Slave Week' could just as easily be spending their break kicking back on a beach somewhere or just bumming out at their houses, but they have instead decided to lay rock, paint fences, clean cabins, and frame our new barn and house.

There is just no way to fully describe how much difference it makes to this ministry to have twenty able-bodied college students show up for four days with the willingness to serve in any way that they are needed. I know that when these guys and girls are on their 20th wheelbarrow load of mortar to mix by hand, or they have been cleaning toilets and sinks for two full days, the work can lose some of its appeal, be we haven't heard a single complaint out of this wonderful group of students. If only everyone in the Church was willing to serve like that!

I know that for Lee and I, the work before us here at Camp Caudle can sometimes seem overwhelming, like there is no light at the end of the laborious tunnel. Honestly, the work will never stop…there is always grass to be mowed, roads to be graded, buildings to be renovated, and plumbing to be replaced.

So it is with life. If our goal is to be 'finished' with our work, it will be a depressing existence for sure. Our work as followers of God is never finished. So we must take our joy not in the completion of our work, but instead in the process of working itself. Yes, sometimes it is wonderful to sit back and admire the fruit of our labor…the completion of a task, the growing and maturing of our children, visiting with someone on whom we have been a positive influence, but we cannot afford to relax and be idle for too long. In fact, listen to the words of the Apostle Paul:

    …But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 3:13-14

In Christ, we have the freedom to forget what is behind; our failures as well as our successes, and PRESS ON to the future. What does the future hold? Who knows!? But one thing I do know, if we wake up every morning with the intent to attack each day with all the fervor that comes with being a follower of the Creator of the universe, we can accomplish amazing things over the course of that day. Just imagine what can be accomplished through us over the course of a week, a month, or all the years of our lives. Some day, we will all be called home to enjoy the fruits of our labor forever, but until that day comes…do with your might what your hand finds to do.

 

Ewwww....that's gross!

 

 Here you can see the house framing being sheathed with plywood.

 Using the lumber donated by the kind folks at Bibler Bros. Lumber Company.

 

 Building the new bridge to the swimming hole.

 Will doing his best to look cool on the jobsite.

 Painting the fence for our new horses coming this summer.

The end of a hard, but productive day!

A lot of hard work

The past two months have been filled with work groups, donations and accomplishment and I am very proud. 
    We have painted walls...

floors...

bought a semi trailor load of lumber...

toted, measured and cut... 

and sawed, and sawed and sawed...

and stained, and stained and stained.


















We built concrete counter-tops,

beds...

door frames, doors...

                    and stalls. 

This weekend we housed our first group in the new retreat center. (Eighty college students from around the state.) Though it wasn't completely finished for them, compared to two months ago it is looking great. There are ten more doors to build, four more stall walls, all the stall doors, counter-tops to seal, and trim to put up but really, "it is looking great." I am very proud of what we have accomplished and thankful to those who have come and worked so hard to make it happen! 

We have re-instituted "Work Wednesdays" and several men from Mt. George and Westside have been coming every week and working from 9am to about 3pm. I can say with great confidence that they saved my backside. There is no way I would have accomplished even one-fourth as much trying to do it alone. They have become more than just volunteers here. I have learned many things from them and very much enjoy their company.  

This year has started off very strongly. The enthusiasm about the work here at camp is very high. More people have come to do work projects in the past six months than in my previous three years working as Director here. This blog could not be long enough to show how proud I am of this camp, the people involved and the future that is in store. I believe that God will bless and is blessing our efforts here and I see many great things taking place. Let us be prayerful that these great things will continue to translate into changed lives.  

Insurance Money

Last Spring (April 2011) when the tornado rolled through Vilonia, AR and other places around the state it tore off several shingles on the roofs here at the camp. Thank goodness for insurance money. The old Mess Hall was probably the worst and is, as you can see in the picture above, being replaced with Driftwood Architectural type shingles. Hopefully, we will have enough left to patch the other roofs on the cabins as well.

 In addition to nailing down shingles we are still working toward finishing the basement of the new building. To my knowledge we still need money for labor and tools to build the beds. Also, in general the camp needs picked up and spruced up. All of the construction and use over the past year has created dirt piles and such needing to be cleaned up. If you have a front in loader, strong back or just time to help clean up please let us know.

As always you can go to www.campcaudle.org and donate. E-mail me info@campcaudle.org for information or to set up a date and time for work.

Quail Supper

Raise your hand if you like toilets!! Saturday night we had our, "1st annual remake of our what used to be annual," Quail Supper. We nearly had a full house in spite of the rain and all had a very good time. The dinner itself was delicious as was all of the pies and cakes that were donated by ladies from the area churches (Mtn. George, Dover, Dardanelle, River Park, Westside and possibly others I am unaware of). A very large half pumpkin half red velvet cake with cream cheese icing was donated by The Cake Place www.thecakeplacebakery.com in Russellville, AR. The quail was grown locally by Robert Dale of Dover and was cooked by the Roy Family from the River Park church just south of Russellville, AR by the dam. I am told they give of their time frequently to help cook for worthy functions. Recently, they gave up their Thanksgiving day to cook for anyone in need or desire to share in a dinner at their church. Becky Miller did a great job of putting things together as did the members of the board for selling their tickets.

The pictures above were taken during the dinner when I had everyone raise their hands if they liked having toilets. Ha! All were in agreement and showed it with their pocket book. I picked on Chris George first but it was his wife Cathy who got the ball rolling by saying she was so pleased with the idea of having good toilets to use in the new retreat facility she was willing to buy one. Everyone else jumped in as I jokingly prodded a little and pledged to buy all of the toilets, sinks, interior doors and paint for the downstairs of the new building. This is a good example of how when we all pull together we can accomplish great things.One sink and one toilet at a time things can get done.

 As I tease about this all I want to convey how truly grateful I am to all those that bought tickets, brought desserts, bought items for the building, cleaned up, set up or did anything at all to help. It was a huge success because of you.

During the dinner I thought to myself how neat it is that we have formed over the years this sort of Camp Caudle family. I knew many of the folks there and to my knowledge would not have otherwise had it not been for the camp. All of you are so gracious, loving and are genuinely seeking for camp to succeed in serving the Lord. Thank you so much! Also, I want to thank the Beebe church of Christ youth (7ups) for letting us interrupt their yearly retreat to have the dinner. They were very gracious under the leadership of their new youth minister Matt Love and seemed to find someplace to hide for that afternoon while we set up, ate and cleaned up. Thank you. The Servers (Rachel Shipman, Mandy Sublett, Cole Van Horn, Michael Shipman, Hannah Kenney, Chris and Cathy George and Debbie Shipman) gave up their night and worked so hard. We could not have done it with out you all thank you.

Today, I had the opportunity to preach at both the River Park and the Westside congregations. They are both supporters of the camp and frequently invite me for an update and sermon. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at both places and am thankful always for the invitation. While there, I had some ask if we have all that we need in order to finish the building. What we lack are the beds, flooring, some money for the plumbing labor and as always miscellaneous items. Whether you were able to attend the dinner or not and want to be involved in finishing this project please let me know by emailing me at: info@campcaudle.org . If your church or servant group wants to have a work day we would love that.

As always you can go to www.campcaudle.org and click the donate button to give directly to this endeavor.

A very busy weekend and a Sunday has come to an end. This week will prove to be just as busy. Thanks for everything. Tell your friends about camp.

Finishing the Basement

new dining hall

serving line

new kitchen

One year ago we began the second phase of construction on our new dining hall and retreat center. Prior to this, we built the structure and had a shell waiting to be filled. All phases of construction (plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, flooring, painting, etc.) were feverishly tackled to get the dining hall and kitchen completed by summer 2011. We did it...mostly. This past summer we were able to utilize the new facility which is capable of seating 200 people. In the past, if we pushed it we could squeeze 80 into the outdated, cramped and very hot old mess hall. This was a wonderful and glorious improvement. The sweet ladies that have slaved for years in poor(er) conditions sang praises as they sliced meat and diced vegies in the air-conditioned kitchen that was nearly as big as the entire old building.

The sinks in upstairs bathrooms

Toilets that will be downstairs

where the sinks will go

The space for the thrones

One of the family rooms

showers in basement are installed

This winter our goal is to finish the downstairs (Retreat Center) portion of this facility. I am happy to report that really most all of the construction aspect is completed down there. The electricity, plumbing, sheet-rock and showers are installed. What we lack is the interior doors (8), toilets (11), sinks (14), paint and floor covering. My goal for the pictures above is not to display beautiful porcelain art, rather, to help you see where we are and what we will be doing.

Many of you have purchased a toilet or sink before so you know the cost of each item. Realize then what buying 14 of them would do to your budget along with the installation and the incidentals and you know where we are. In March 2012 we will have one of our first big groups of the spring. My hope is that we can band together and finish this project for the groups that will be able to grow while using it. Obviously, finishing this now and using it as it was designed will be a much greater tool than allowing it to sit another year.

my wife Andrea Henson cooking

Lastly, if you have been involved with the camp in the past 3.3 years you have probably met my wife Andrea. She'll kill me for posting this but she is worth mentioning. She goes to great lengths to save camp money, keep me on task (most difficult task) and raise our children in the Lord. She is a great asset to camp and to the kingdom...and (mushy time) I love her!

Getting Geared Up

WELCOME! to the first ever "Director's Notes" post by Camp Caudle. I am Lee Henson and I will do my best to submit regular post about the goings on here at the camp.

Today there are a lot of exciting things happening on the camp scene. This morning there are workers down at the new dining hall putting up forms for a curb and gutter along the uphill (north) side of the building. This is a great addition that we've been waiting for that will keep the rain water from getting to the building or pooling up in the front door. If you came last summer you know what i'm talking about. Simultaneously, dirt and drainage work is being finished up in the same area. This however, is not being hired out by any crew. With the help of Board Member Brent Ruple of Vilonia, AR and some pick axes, shovels, a not so manly-sized backhoe and a little know how we have fervently played in the mud off and on over the past several months trying to resolve all drainage issues. Lord willing it will be completed this week. (If at any point in this excerpt you feel sorry for me and my back please feel free to come join the work party.)

There is a little hurry up in the air because of another exciting thing that will be happening December 3, 2011. Our Quail Supper, which in years past was an annual event, is a great time for reunions, good food, and excellent camp support. The goal this week is to get the outside of the building more serviceable for the attendees of that dinner. If you don't have your ticket for this event it is with mixed emotions I must tell you that you are too late. Mixed because I am elated that we sold out of all of our tickets....hurray, but I do wish all of you could come. If you aren't going to be with us that night and wish to contribute please visit our web site   www.campcaudle.org and give.

Which brings me to my final exciting point...and this is a big one. We now have the capability to successfully register, pay and donate online. We have been trying to have this feature for a while and every year many of you ask, "when will we get in the 21st century?" Your wildest dreams have come true...that is if your wildest dreams include and are limited too having online registration capabilities. All of this is made possible because of both our Web Designer April Ruple (www.ruplephotography.com) and our new event registration company ServiceU. The current web site is being updated regularly but we will be unveiling our NEW and IMPROVED site sometime in January 2012!

Most don't think about coming to camp until Spring is here and the weather begins to warm up. This time of year we have our minds on the holidays, family, food and vacation. As you can see, however, we have a lot of things going on here. Camp is a year round event. My goal for the next post will be to showcase the other projects in the works that we need to finish before spring time.